Again, a sign of the flyspeck examination that characterizes dedication (or obsession?) in a collector: I already had an example of this more common coin, identical but for having the SI officina mark in the left field instead of the right.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Nice full-circle strikes on both sides, a bit flat at the reverse center, with a significant crack, silver mostly intact with some surface deterioration. All in all, a quite acceptable example of a fairly scarce version that lacks an officina mark, Göbl attests 18 of these with this bust. With shipping, I paid under $20, since no one else wanted it enough to pay more.

Supply matters, but demand drives the price of ancients in the same way it drives the price of land.

AR denarius, M. Papirius Carbo, Rome, 122 BCE, Crawford 276/1

Gaius Gracchus, early social reformer, was tribune in 122 BCE, the year this was minted. His death didn't put an end to the rot, though, and soon enough the Roman public found they could use political force to take the property of others.